Water chestnut harvester leaked hydraulic fluid into Sudbury River

SUDBURY – A water chestnut harvesting machine, operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, leaked several gallons of hydraulic fluid into the Sudbury River on July 21, records show.

The leak occurred in a section of the river north of Rte. 27 in Sudbury. Libby Herland, manager of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, blamed the incident on a design flaw in the harvester.

A record filed with the state says 30 gallons of hydraulic fuel flowed into the river. The number was given as a worse case scenario; a preliminary investigation found that fewer than 30 gallons actually spilled, Herland said.

Because a hazardous liquid leaked directly into a water body, the agency was required by law to notify state environmental officials within two hours. The agency, however, failed to report the incident until three days later.

The fluid spilled on a Friday afternoon; the incident was reported on a Monday afternoon. The agency employees involved weren’t aware of the tight timetable for reporting, Herland said. She plans to review spill protocols with her staff.

“I’m actually very pleased with the response of my staff who were out there,” Herland said. “They responded appropriately and the only thing we didn’t do as well as we should have was the notification period.”

The agency officials on scene soaked up some of the fluid with special pads and encircled the harvester with a "boom," a sponge designed to absorb and contain oil in water, Herland said. They later removed some plants that had become contaminated.

The fuel line that ruptured had been rubbing against the harvester’s metal body, Herland said. The agency is reporting the problem to the manufacturer of the machine. That company's identity was not immediately available Friday.

“It wasn’t anything any of the operators did wrong and it wasn’t neglect from improper or lack of maintenance,” Herland said. “It was something that no one would have noticed because of the location of it.”

At the time of the incident, the agency was harvesting water chestnuts, an invasive species, from the Sudbury River. The harvester has been used in Sudbury’s Stearns Mill Pond and Carding Mill Pond for the same purpose in the past.

The agency hired Sudbury-based Clean Properties Inc. to investigate the extent of the spill and recommend further cleanup if necessary. The consultant’s report is due to the state in September.

“Yes, we had a spill of hydraulic fluid, but it was a small spill,” Herland said. “It just took us by surprise. We wouldn’t have thought that we’d have something like that happen on this new machine.”

Jonathan Dame can be reached at 508-626-3919 or jdame@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DameReports